Agenda and draft minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members will be invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

The Chair invited Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests which they might have in the business on the agenda.  The following Members declared interests as follows in relation to agenda item 4 (Education Scrutiny Committee – Report on Extended Schools Service in York):

Councillor Hyman, personal interest as a governor of Huntington Primary School

Councillor Merrett, personal interest as a father with a daughter undergoing primary school education in York.

Councillor Cuthbertson, personal interest as governor of both Huntington and Headlands Primary Schools.  

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2006.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2006 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Friday 21 July 2006 at 10am.

The Chair reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report asks Members to consider the final report of the Education Scrutiny Committee into the extended schools service in York.

Members received a report which asked them to consider the final report of the Education Scrutiny Committee into the extended schools service in York.

A revised version of the final report, with corrections to typographical errors, had been circulated to Members.

The review had focused on:

• Provision in primary schools;
• A range of schools of different sizes with differing needs; and
• Different types of provision aimed at meeting the varying needs of schools in York

Councillor Hall presented the report and findings as Chair of the Committee and responded to Members questions.  Members went through each of the recommendations in turn, suggesting minor revisions to recommendation 4 and, the content of the report and culminating in a commitment to review the scrutiny in March 2008.

RESOLVED:Members noted the final report of the Education Scrutiny Committee, endorsed the following recommendations, with the inclusion of a ‘flexible’ and ‘affordable’ lettings policy in recommendation 4 below:

(i)           the model of extended schools provision be reviewed by the Director of Children’s Services by September 2006, in order to realign it with and properly reflect the core offer of May 2006;

(ii)         schools to be supported by the Director of Children’s Services by creating profiles of local community need, in order to assist the development of community services by September 2007;

(iii)       support for the Government target of ensuring all schools become extended schools by 2010, with appropriate training and support being provided for school staff and governors in York;

(iv)        encouraging the operation of a flexible and affordable lettings policy to accommodate extended school and community activities;

(v)          support for clustering of schools in order to develop services and business support which extends provision;

(vi)        support a bid to become a Pathfinder authority to support for shared foundation partnerships by improve parenting support;

(vii)      accept invitation to be Pathfinder authority in order to look at developing longer free sessions for 3 & 4 year olds in education, care and play; and

(viii)    extended schools provision to be reviewed by scrutiny in March 2008

REASON:In order to meet the constitutional requirements on Scrutiny Management Committee.

This report updates Members on progress with the completion of outstanding scrutiny reviews and presents the draft final report of the Planning Guidance and Sustainable Development Scrutiny Sub-Committee for their consideration.

Members received a report which updated them on progress with regard to the completion of outstanding scrutiny reviews and presented the draft final report of the Planning Guidance and Sustainable Development Scrutiny Sub-Committee for their consideration.

A revised version of the above draft final report, with corrections of typographical errors, had been circulated to Members.  A briefing note on the implications of the draft report for Building Control staffing levels was tabled at the meeting.

Members then made the following comments on the report as currently drafted:

• Simplify the language and structure of the report to ensure it is user friendly;
• Clarify the context of the work in relation to the Local Plan and in particular to Special Planning Guidance

Members then discussed progress relating to the outstanding reviews in some detail with a view to being in a position at the next meeting to clarify exactly what work remained to be done.

RESOLVED:(i) That the completion of the work of the former Environment & Sustainability Scrutiny Board relating to ‘sustainable street lighting’ be noted and any recommendations agreed by the Executive in due course be scheduled for monitoring;

                        (ii) That the request of the Ad-Hoc Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee to extend its work on the Housing topic Reducing Carbon Emissions in York’s Housing, with a view to completing the review for report back to Scrutiny Management Committee at its September meeting, be agreed;

                        (iii) That a revised draft final report in relation to the review on ‘Guidance on Sustainable Development’ be submitted to the October meeting of the Committee, as indicated above;

                        (iv) That a further report be received at the next meeting in relation to progress with the former Commercial Services Board review on community recycling and re-use in York, giving, at least, a clear indication of the residual work involved to complete the review.

REASON;To facilitate proper completion of the work of the former Boards (Planning & Transport, Housing and Commercial Services) and provide realistic timescales for consultation on any proposed recommendations.

This report sets out the initial draft of the Annual Scrutiny Report for 2005/6 which constitutionally Scrutiny Management Committee is responsible for producing every year, as part of its performance reporting and monitoring function.

Members received a report which set out the initial draft of the Annual Scrutiny Report for 2005/6 which constitutionally Scrutiny Management Committee was responsible for producing every year, as part of its performance reporting and monitoring function.

It was noted that some submissions from former Chairs for Scrutiny Boards were still outstanding and further deadlines had been given for completion of their outstanding contributions.  The final Annual Report would be submitted to Council in October.

RESOLVED:That the progress to date with the preparation of the Annual Report be noted, the content as currently included be approved and the final proposed version be agreed in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, as previously approved, for onward submission to full Council in October.

REASON:To enable the Annual Report to be published and constitutional requirements to be met.

This report sets out an initial strategy for developing a work plan for scrutiny reviews to enable topics to be assessed for feasibility against some agreed criteria and to monitor progress in relation to new, ongoing and completed reviews.

Members received a report which set out an initial strategy for developing a work plan for scrutiny reviews to enable topics to be assessed for feasibility against some agreed criteria and to monitor progress in relation to new, ongoing and completed reviews.

Members discussed both the proposed eligibility criteria and database for monitoring scrutiny progress and information.  In addition, to some of the proposed draft criteria, Members suggested the criteria should cover areas of poor performance and general accountability, to ensure all aspects of scrutiny were addressed.  

RESOLVED:That the proposals for creating a more structured work planning environment for scrutiny be noted to assist in managing the scrutiny function and a further report be received in due course on the framework of operation, including the proposed eligibility criteria.

REASON:To establish some agreed processes within which the scrutiny function could operate.

To receive the Scrutiny Management Committee Forward Plan for 2006/07.

Members received the Scrutiny Management Committee Forward Plan for 2006/07.

RESOLVED:That the Forward Plan be noted and further consideration be given at the next meeting to the list of topics registered.

REASON:                        To inform Members.